Back to Loot Lantern
Strategy that runs in your browser

Three browser campaigns
for patient builders of empires

Pemba spends the rainy evenings at base camp planning cities rather than climbing. These are the three free browser strategy games on that camp laptop: a sun-baked Mesoamerican settlement, a scatter of Greek islands ruled from the sea, and a vast tactical map crawling with armies and monsters. Nothing to install, nothing to pay before you begin.

Tentlan key art
01 · Mesoamerican city strategy

Tentlan: raise a Mesoamerican city

Settle a young city in a land drawn from ancient Mesoamerican cultures, keep quarries, woodcutters and fields busy, and raise pyramids, marketplaces and barracks as the population swells. Rival and friendly cities crowd the map around you, so diplomacy and sound defences count for as much as clever building.

Good for
Careful planners who like juggling materials and nursing a city along over weeks.
Typical session
A few brief check-ins, two or three daily
Where it runs
Desktop browser
Cost
No charge to play; in-game purchases are optional.
Your first session
  1. Never leave a production building idle; one stalled quarry holds up everything downstream.
  2. Find allies during your opening days, since a friendly neighbourhood makes the early map much calmer.
  3. Expand your storehouses ahead of time so overnight gathering is never thrown away.
Play Tentlan freeOpens int.tentlan.com in a new tab
Grepolis key art
02 · Ancient Greek strategy

Grepolis: rule the Greek islands

Govern an island city in a mythical version of ancient Greece: grow the senate, harbour and walls, then pledge yourself to a patron god whose favour fuels powerful divine spells. Fleets ferry soldiers and goods from island to island, and real progress comes when an alliance moves as one.

Good for
Fans of myth, sea power and slow campaigns fought beside friends.
Typical session
15 to 30 minutes
Where it runs
Desktop browser
Cost
No charge to play; in-game purchases are optional.
Your first session
  1. Choose your patron deity with thought, because each favours its own units and spells.
  2. Push farms and the warehouse upwards early; armies and buildings alike need the headroom.
  3. Keep an eye on alliance messages, since coordinated timing is how islands fall and stay held.
Play Grepolis freeOpens us.grepolis.com in a new tab
Total Battle key art
03 · Tactical empire strategy

Total Battle: march across a vast map

Build up a capital, recruit infantry, cavalry and mythical beasts, and march them across an enormous shared map to raid monster lairs and fight over land. Clans combine forces for big events, and your research tree and city upgrades decide what each army is capable of.

Good for
Commanders who want plenty to manage and a busy clan behind them.
Typical session
20 to 40 minutes
Where it runs
Desktop browser
Cost
No charge to play; in-game purchases are optional.
Your first session
  1. Lean on the guided quest chain early on; it pays out resources while teaching the troop types.
  2. Sign up with a lively clan quickly, as clan help cuts building and research times.
  3. Send scouts before any march and pick troops that counter whatever they report.
Play Total Battle freeOpens totalbattle.com in a new tab

Tentlan, Grepolis and Total Battle at a glance

TentlanGrepolisTotal Battle
GenreMesoamerican city strategyAncient Greek strategyTactical empire strategy
PaceMeasured and thoughtfulPatient and tacticalBusy but planned
Playing with othersAlliances on a shared mapAlliances and shared conquestsClans and shared events
Typical sessionA few brief check-ins, two or three daily15 to 30 minutes20 to 40 minutes
Where it runsDesktop browserDesktop browserDesktop browser
CostNo charge to play; in-game purchases are optional.No charge to play; in-game purchases are optional.No charge to play; in-game purchases are optional.

Free, and what that really covers

Joining, founding a first city and carrying on for months are all open to you in these three games without spending anything. No timer expires on a trial, and no chapter is walled off behind a payment.

Each studio does run a shop of optional extras, from premium currency to speed-ups and cosmetic pieces. Those can hurry a few things along, yet the full game stands without them. Anyone sharing a computer at home may want to look at what payment details the studio account stores.

Founding your first city

Pressing a button further down this page loads that game's own website in a separate tab. Registration takes place with its studio, usually an email address plus a password, and a starter city is ready almost at once.

All three begin with a sequence of guided tasks. Working through them in order teaches the buildings, the troops and the map quicker than any manual, and their rewards give your settlement a welcome early boost.

Playing well with only a little time

Cities in these games keep working with the tab shut. Construction completes, stockpiles grow and recruits finish drilling, so the trick is to queue long jobs before you leave.

On a hectic day, drop in to collect, line up the next jobs and greet your allies, then go. Longer evenings are for mapping out an expansion or planning a joint strike with friends.

Staying safe on game accounts

Each player profile belongs to the studio behind that game, which means signing in on its official website and nowhere else. Set a distinct, strong password per game and turn on any additional login protection on offer.

Real support teams will not request your password. If a chat message dangles free premium currency in return for login details, it is a scam, so report it and move on.

Why Pemba packed these three

  • Every pick opens inside a normal desktop browser tab; no installer is involved.
  • Every pick costs nothing to join or to keep going, and its shop can be ignored for good.
  • Every pick pays off forethought: the plan you lay down early in the week is what wins by its end.
  • Every pick has run for many seasons and its maps are still crowded with rivals and allies.

Not at all. Tentlan, Grepolis and Total Battle each open in an everyday desktop browser, whether that is Chrome, Firefox, Edge or Safari.

It is. Joining and continuing cost nothing in each one. The optional in-game shop is there for those who want it, and it is easy to skip.

Independent studios build and operate them; we have no part in that. The buttons here simply lead to each official website.

Sadly not. Each studio keeps its own registration, so you open one free profile per game on that game's own website.

Tentlan offers the gentlest lessons in city building. Grepolis rewards anyone who loves myth and fleets, while Total Battle suits players hungry for a large army to command.

No. Work continues while you are elsewhere, so brief check-ins spread across the day keep a city on track.

Certainly. Each game is built for normal laptop and desktop displays, though a mouse makes scrolling the map far easier than a touchpad.